I'm most worried about Patton balling out along with the other young recievers ya'll have. They'll definately be tested in week 2 so I'm looking forward to that and hoping my worries go away.

Can't wait for the season to start and the smack talk shall continue from last year.

I want to say Patton as well but I just think its going to be Vance. I think Patton is going to be viewed as a guy who needs to make an immediate impact because of Crabtree but I just Vance sneaking in a surprising a lot of people.

The way I see it is who has less of a transition to make, from college to the professional ranks. Its hard to come in, and start at FS, day 1 in this league. Passing schemes are so complex. You have all theses coverages and checks. You have to know where all 11 players on defense are, get them lined-up correctly, in they're proper technique or shade or whatever. Its a lot of work and little nuances early on that you have master. Its hard to play fast and instinctive right away, when your trying to learn so much. There's going to be growing pains and an adjustemnt period. Jarius Byrd is the only one I can think of came in and hit the ground running. I see Reid evetually growing into the starter but not being the guy early on, as he adjust and understands the schemes and concepts.

Tank is converting from 4-3 DE to 3-4 DE. I understand early on he'll mostly see snaps strictly as a 4-3 DE, but even those will be on a rotational basis. He already has 3 DEs ahead of him on the depth chart. Aldon, Brooks, and Harlason will get the majority of the minutes as the ends in the nickel. I don't see too many opportunities for either Tank or Lemonier there. Lemonier might find it hard just to be activated for the 45 every week as the 4th OLB. You have to understand last year, it was just Ray Mac, Cowboy, Aldon, and Brooks. That's it. Baalke alluded to that it was philosophical reason as to why other guys were not invloved more in the rotation. I think Fangio has learned from that and there will be more of a rotation. But its not like we now going to start trotting out 8 guys every week along the front four. Ray Mac, Dorsey, Cowboy, Williams, Aldon, Brooks, and Haralson will be more than enough, barring injury. I see both Tank and Lemioner on the AJ Jenkins red-shirt plan. Not that they aren't talented enough to step on the field and help. But between the guys that I mentioned, I don't see enough snaps for them to make a dent. Haralson was the biggest injury last year. Not having him as a rotational guy with Aldon and Brooks was huge. Just adding him back into the mix will do wonders for our pass-rush and keeping the edge guys fresh because he can play in the base set as well and he knows the scheme inside and out. He isn't just a package-specific player, the way I believe Tank and Lemonier will be there first year, as they adjust to the scheme, the league, and their new position. I don't see JH wasting a active gameday spot on either two, barring a injury to someone else further ahead of the depth chart. Excatly the way we handled AJ last year.

I think McDonald has less of a transition to make than anyone else. Physically, he's already bigger and strogner than most of the guys playing his position in the league. And he gets to work, train, and learn from one of the best in the league, everyday. Once he gets the playbook down and starts playing faster, I think people will be pleasantly surprised by how much of a weapon he is. And because were such a heavy 2 TE offense, it just makes too much sense.

Patton also deserves a mention as well, but he's looking ahead at guys already on the depth chart. Not that those guys will prohibit him but he will really have to make huge strides to leapfrog them and see significant snaps, early on. I see his impact as a gradually one, where he's gettin more snaps and production latter on in the year if he progresses the way I think he should. But McDonald has a chance to hit the ground running, day 1 of TC, and never look back.

I don't know about writing Tank off so quickly. We have pretty much nothing behind Justin and RayMac. I see Tank becoming primary backup for them and maybe even earning some PT as the year progresses. We can't keep playing Ray and Justin on every single defensive snap or they'll be worn out by the playoffs when we need them most._________________

I don't know about writing Tank off so quickly. We have pretty much nothing behind Justin and RayMac. I see Tank becoming primary backup for them and maybe even earning some PT as the year progresses. We can't keep playing Ray and Justin on every single defensive snap or they'll be worn out by the playoffs when we need them most.

Your forgeting Dorsey. He will factor into the nickel. Tank isn't playing inside in the nickel, not at the 276 lbs he's currently listed as. A three-man rotation inside with Cowboy, Ray Mac, and Dorsey. Three-man rotation outside with Aldon, Haralson, and Brooks. Throw in Williams splitting some snaps in the base sets at NT. That's what I see happening. I just think its unrealistic to expect Tank to transition inside, right off the bat. I see him playing outside, in a rotation this year. Then as he adds bulk and learns the technical aspect of playing the 5-Tech, he'll transition to be more of an inside player. Until then, those guys I mentioned should be enough, with a guy like Tukuafu thrown in, who can give them some spot duty from time to time.

This one really threw my mind for a loop. I can see why everyone is thinking McD, and I really believe that Corey Lemonier is going to be a monster in our nickel package across from Aldon, but I voted Patton. There is just something about him that makes me think he will be successful from day one.

I still stand by my guess, but yeah... my mind went straight to VMcD and then to Lem (if injury occurs).. and then to Patton. Both of the latter options, sure... possible. The "easy money" guess to me still seems to be VMcD, I'd think.

(and that's really just believing that our scheme will be much of the same, and Vance takes over that Walker role)

I just can't be sure Lemonier will have a great impact, just because of the way we tend to substitute on D. Sure, we rotated Aldon in and out during his rookie season, but that's because he was head and shoulders above anyone else in term of pass rushing. I'm not at all convinced Lemonier, this year, will be at that level yet. I can see him having a major role in 2014, though. But with the return of Haralson, I don't expect much from him.

McDonald, on the other hand, is almost guaranteed playing time. Patton isn't. Lemonier isn't. Tank isn't. Lattimore is pretty much guaranteed no playing time. The rest of our draft picks and UDFA aren't even guaranteed a PS spot, let alone playing time. So, McDonald is the obvious choice here.

I think that our coaching staff saw the benefit of keeping a passrusher fresh for the end of games by rotating aldon during his rookie year. We didnt really have another edge rusher (or another quality OLB for that matter) besides brooks and aldon last year so we were limited with our options. I think lemonier is going to get a lot of snaps in certain spots next year, as I believe we will put up 30-40 points on a weekly basis with kaep leading the way, and as such we will force other teams to pass more to keep up. I like his quickness off the edge and I think he will see more and more pt as the season progresses.

I also feel like its easier for edge rushers in lemonier's mold to come in and produce right away than it is for a TE to learn all the formations, shifts and such that we will ask of him.

I just dont expect offensive skill position players to have huge impacts in year one... other than crabs who has produced from day one in the past 10 years? hmmm_________________FOREVER FAITHFUL
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FOREVER HATEFUL

I don't know about writing Tank off so quickly. We have pretty much nothing behind Justin and RayMac. I see Tank becoming primary backup for them and maybe even earning some PT as the year progresses. We can't keep playing Ray and Justin on every single defensive snap or they'll be worn out by the playoffs when we need them most.

Your forgeting Dorsey. He will factor into the nickel. Tank isn't playing inside in the nickel, not at the 276 lbs he's currently listed as. A three-man rotation inside with Cowboy, Ray Mac, and Dorsey. Three-man rotation outside with Aldon, Haralson, and Brooks. Throw in Williams splitting some snaps in the base sets at NT. That's what I see happening. I just think its unrealistic to expect Tank to transition inside, right off the bat. I see him playing outside, in a rotation this year. Then as he adds bulk and learns the technical aspect of playing the 5-Tech, he'll transition to be more of an inside player. Until then, those guys I mentioned should be enough, with a guy like Tukuafu thrown in, who can give them some spot duty from time to time.

I'm confused about your use of inside and outside, particularly since our defense changes alignment so often. I'm not expecting Tank to be playing the same role as Aldon, Brooks and Haralson, and I think that was made clear when we took Lemonier. I expect we're grooming him as a replacement for Justin or RayMac. He would then be on the outside of our 3-man line and on the inside of our 4-man line. He'll be working in the weight room and the training table and will probably be 285-290 by the start of the season. RayMac and Tukuafu are 290, Justin is only 285 and Dobbs is 275. Size will not be Tank's problem at all. It will just be a matter of how quickly he learns the position. Given that his competion is Dobbs and Tukuafu I'd actually be surprised if he doesn't beat them both out. I'd be happy to bet right now that one of those two guys is not on the team next year. But I'm hoping for far more than that from him. I'm hoping for a really, really good DE that we can use from time to time, without hurting our Defense, to give Justin or Ray a rest, and who has that potential to be an adequate replacement for one of them. Heck for all we know, he might be able to beat out Ray for the spot alongside of Justin, between Aldon and Brooks on passing downs.

By the way, I'm assuming Dorsey is our full time NT and will not be taking any snaps at DE._________________